Some old, some new.

First up there’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (.MOV, 9.6Mb). This definitely looks like it’s going to be darker than any of it’s predecessors and rightly so. It’s being directed by David Yates who has done nothing that I’ve seen or heard of before (with the exception of a few episodes of The Bill and The Girl in the Cafe, a one off BBC drama with Bill Nighy and Kelly McDonald). No doubt I’ll be going to see this at some stage.

By contrast, I’m well aware of the work of Michael Bay and his trademark big bangs, circling cameras and slo-mo action scenes. I enjoyed The Rock and Bad Boys for the testosterone fuelled, leave your brain at the door show-off pieces that they are but Armageddon was schmaltzy as was Pearl Harbour. His style should lend itself well to the live action version of Transformers that’s coming out this summer and the trailer (.MOV, 26.5Mb) does cause the saliva glands to start pumping. I was never hugely into the cartoons and the toys were a little too late for me but hell, who doesn’t love big robots and lots of explosions?

The only downside is that I can’t help but think of the godawful Independence Day and the tediously dull Godzilla when I watch it. Neither of them are actually directed by Bay, which is lucky, and while Pearl Harbour and Armageddon may have been crap, they did show that he could handle epic action scenes and large scale set pieces - unlike Roland Emmerich who did direct ID4, Stargate, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow and proved time and time again that he just can’t focus on the bigger picture. The reason those films come to mind, however, is that while I like the trailer, I can’t help but think it’ll be disappointing. This feeling isn’t helped when you read the news section on the official website which quotes the GM (General Motors) vice president as saying “‘Transformers’ is a compelling project and offers a global platform for marketing GM products and building our brands. It represents the perfect intersection of entertainment, marketing and design.” Can you say “product placement”?

I think I read the book of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust about two days before production on the film was announced. It’s an enjoyable story and I was intrigued to know who was going to be in it. Well, you can’t fault the cast selection: Peter O’Toole, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais (yes, really), Jason Flemyng and Michelle Pfeiffer looking absolutely stunning. The trailer (available on the Yahoo! Movies site) is bizarre though. I can’t relate any of it to the book I read although it was a couple of years ago. However, it does look pretty and is being directed by Matthew Vaughn who did Layer Cake (but not X-Men 3 sadly). And as some of it was filmed in the woods behind my house, I’m going to be making a date to see it in August when it’s released.

Finally, for now, there’s the trailer for Danny Boyle’s next project Sunshine. The gorgeous Gia’s been writing the official blog for this movie and I’ve been following it with interest. The trailer (.MOV, 18.9Mb) is very good and his seens of people drowing, being decompressed, floating away into space, being burned alive, being blown up and, well, lots of explosions. And a very pretty spaceship. Throw in some a very diverse and talented cast including Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and Hiroyuki Sanada and this could be a very good film. (Early opinion seems to suggest it is and Gia loves it although, to be fair, she can’t really say otherwise). The best thing about it? It’s being released in the UK in less than two weeks.